Not Quite a Fairytale
by Nanashi Barton
Summary: A roar was heard after the final word, and the beast concealed himself inside his castle, ashamed of his monstrous form. What he said was true: who could ever see behind a person's mask? Who could ever...love a beast?"


A/N: Wow! It's been a long time since I've been here! I want to say thank you to all those who reviewed The Child From the Future. You guys made me laugh while I was in my mini-writer's slump! I appreciate all the encouragement you all have given me, especially all the constructive criticism! It really made me think about a lot of stuff!

I would also like to apologize to my wonderful Beta-reader, Steve Jester. I'M SO SORRY! I have this little quirk-ish thingy: after I finish something I really like, I want to put it up on FF.net asap. Thus, my grammar is horrible. Forgive me! I'll try better this time!!! vv I've been horrible about keeping up with this stuff!

THIS FIC IS DEDICATED TO MAXINE HOLST AND ERICA LUGDEN (I spelled that wrong, didn't I? sigh WAHH! I'M SORRY!)! YOU GUYS ARE THE BESTEST!

Now, on with the ficcy!

…Um…not. I forgot the disclaimer. Well, here goes…I OWN MEGAMI KOUHOSEI! BWAHAHAHAHA! I am the sole ruler of the world! Please notice the sarcasm under the insanity. Thank you.

A Fairytale Gone Wrong

(Or, the Problems with Chickens)

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a prince in a shining castle. He had silver locks and crimson eyes, and he was considered to be the most handsome man in the land. However, his actions toward people was completely opposite of his gorgeous looks and lean body. He was mean, cruel, and unforgiving to his subjects. He detested the poor, the hungry, and the old, whom he considered ugly and undeserving of life. He was selfish and unkind to all. His name was Hiead Gner, feared but respected by all mankind.

But then, on one winter's night, when snow was drifting throughout the land, a knock came at the palace doors. It was an old woman, dressed in torn clothes and a flimsy cape. Her white hair seemed unwashed, greasy, and smelly. Her long, bony fingers were wrapped around a cane on which she leaned, nearly fainting from the cold.

"Might I have a place to stay tonight?" she asked in a screechy voice. She began to cough violently, blood trickling down the side of her mouth. "Please, just one night, so I may continue on my journey to visit my son." She coughed again, wracking her frail frame as she did so.

The butler, saddened by the sight of the old woman and her sickness, immediately allowed her inside away from the cold.

"Wait here, please. I will go fetch the prince. He will determine what is to be done with you." Casting one last pitiful glance at the hunchback woman, he set off for the throne room.

Minutes later, the old woman heard footsteps heading her way. She looked up, and her eyes fell on the prince, who was sneering at her appearance.

"What is it that you want?" he snapped, "I don't have time to deal with people like you."

"Please sir, I need a place to stay tonight," she began in her scratchy voice, "Might I offer this one rose in return for a warm bed?"

He raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at her. "No, you ugly wench."

Her anger immediately began to flare. "Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'be respectful to your elders'?"

Hiead glared at her. The nerve of this woman! To come into his castle out of the blue and insult him. As if she could stay the night! He looked down upon her, taking in her haggard appearance, the way she stooped and held on to her cane for dear life. He snorted and pointed at hand at the door.

"I order you to leave. I will not shelter such an ugly person as yourself. People like you should already be in their graves. You're too old to keep on living and you are eating up all the country's resources. Go now, before I have to throw you out!"

"Might I warn you now, my DEAR prince, not to be deceived by appearances, for you never know what lies behind each mask a person wears."

Hiead snorted at her bit of advice. "Everyone is as they seem. There is no such thing as a deeper self. Now go, before I bind your arms and throw you into the dungeon to starve!"

The old woman shook her head and stood up as straight as she could. She lifted up her cane and pointed it at his face.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Humph."

She smiled wickedly and pointed the cane straight up in the air. It began to shrink and thin out, until it became what seemed to be a thin stick. She pointed it at herself and immediately, golden sparkles fell out of the wand and circled around her. A bright, white light flashed, and when it finally disappeared, an enchantress stood in place of the old woman.

"Ugly now, am I?" She asked. Light blue hair spilled over her shoulders as deeper, blue eyes stared at him, sparkling with malice. Her long, white gown pooled at her feet, tied around the middle with a golden string. She held onto the rose, which she held out at him.

Hiead blinked in surprise and immediately fell to his knees in front of the youthful goddess. "Please, excuse my horrid behavior, my lady. I would be most happy to offer you a room in my palace for the night."

Her grin began to widen as she smirked.

"No amount of begging or apologizing can save you now, Hiead Gner. I have seen that there is no good in your heart, and as punishment, your form shall be changed. By day, you shall be as you are, but by night, when the sun begins to set, you will transform into a hideous beast-a dragon.

"Oh yes, by the way, did I mention that everyone in this castle will be transformed too? Consider yourself lucky, prince, for they shall become objects and cannot change from their form. While you are half human-half beast, they shall be whole objects!"

"No, please!" Hied begged, "Do not do this to me!"

"You shall not be turned back into a full human until you learn to love and receive her love in return. However, there is a minor catch: you must do it before your twenty-first year. If not, you will be doomed to stay a beast for all eternity, and will not change back at sunrise."

She waved her wand and a powerful spell was cast over the colossal castle. The prince shrieked in agony as his body began to lengthen. Wings sprouted from his back and a large tail appeared behind him. Flames came out of his mouth as he roared when his hands became claws. His skin began to become silver, and his eyes narrowed, but still stayed the same crimson.

The enchantress, whose name was Teela, stood back and admired her work. All around her, servants and the people in the castle were changed into animate objects, like candlesticks and clocks. She smirked and placed the rose on the floor alongside a mirror.

"The rose I had offered you was truly an enchanted rose and will bloom until your twenty-first birthday. If you do not learn to love by the time the last petal falls, you shall remain a beast forever. The mirror will provide you with a view to the outside world. Simply speak the place where you want to see, and it will appear."

Teela waved her wand again once more and disappeared. A few moments later, a voice rang throughout the castle.

"I warned you, beast, I warned you..."

A roar was heard after the final word, and the beast concealed himself inside his castle, ashamed of his monstrous form. What he said was true: who could ever see behind a person's mask? Who could ever...

...love a beast?

A small town laid on the neck of the woods, teeming with bustling people going along with their daily lives. It was early morning, meaning that wives were opening their windows to let in the fresh air, bakers opened their shops, and people were waking up to do their early morning shopping.

Across a small bridge was a cottage, built in a rather funny manner. A young girl, around the age of eighteen, ran out of the house with a large basket. They had run out of eggs! Of all days to run out of eggs! It was her father's big day: he was going to leave on a trip and present his latest invention at the nation-wide convention! She had planned to make a cake that morning, only discovering that there were no more! She glanced at the chickens, who were clucking innocently as they walked around. She glared at them through narrow, amber eyes as she pushed her glasses up a bit farther. They were falling down again. Go figure. Oh the problems with glasses!

She stalked down to the coop and threw open the door, scaring all the chickens. Immediately, she stuck her hand under a chicken and pulled out two eggs. She continued on until she had collected around a dozen. "Stupid chickens," she muttered under her breath, "I swear they're going to take over the world one day...Them and their egg-stealing ways..."

She stalked back up into the house and took out four eggs. She was going to sell the rest at the market that morning to help pay for her father's trip. They were farmers and her father had been trying to make a fortune from his inventions. The one he was working on now was one that would chop up firewood. He used to be a merchant before he was a farmer; however, after his wife's death, he began to lose money until they were at where they were now: simple farmers. He had always tried to provide the best for his daughters-giving them new dresses and jewelry, but it was never enough for the elder two. Kizna and Tsukasa were the beauties in the family. They were kind, yes, but always demanding. Ikhny, on the other hand, was plain. She wore glasses (the classic sign of a geek) with boring brown hair and dull brown eyes. She was neither skinny nor fat, short nor tall. She was always somewhere in the middle.

Kizna, on the other hand, and gorgeous pink hair that was cut into a bob, sparkling eyes and a "delectable" body, as most men say. Tsukasa had long, flowing purple hair and was always the silent one. No one wanted Ikhny. After all, she was the tomboy in the family: always running around in shorts and a t-shirt, never really caring about her appearance.

None of her sisters were up yet as Ikhny changed into her clothes. Her chocolate brown hair was tied up with a blue ribbon. She pulled on a fresh, white, long-sleeved blouse and a pair of jean shorts. Scratching out a note in her "horrible" loopy handwriting, she skipped out the door and into the market, basket of eggs in hand.

As she turned onto the main street, Ikhny tilted her head upward, sighing. Life was so boring around here in the small village outside the large city of Tokyo. Everything was the same every day-get up, milk the cows, feed the chickens, collect eggs from the chickens, locking up the eggs so the chicken don't steal them back, making breakfast, and so on. Each day seemed to repeat itself in a never-ending cycle. When would her life ever turn around?

She hopped onto a cart, hitching a ride to the old bookshop just a little off from the village center. The eggs could wait. Perhaps old Mr. Azuma had finally gotten some new books…and maybe even a saner mind? Ikhny smiled as she shook her head, and jumped off the cart. Waving goodbye and yelling a "thank you" to the driver, she entered the bookshop, breathing in the musty smell of books and news pages waiting to be read.

"Ah, Ikhny, how nice to see you AGAIN," said a voice, sarcastically, "When was the last time you were here? Hmm…maybe yesterday? And no, I don't have any new books."

The girl smiled. "That's okay. Can I reread some of them?"

"But you've already read each one twice!" said Azuma, waving his hands in the air like a lunatic, trying to make a point.

"Yes, but every time I read it, there's something that I always missed the time before!"

Azuma grumbled and waved her off to the ladder as he went to mind the front of his shop. Ikhny raked the shelves, searching for a book that she was in the mood for. Something exciting, with a tidbit of romance and a little more humor. Her eyes landed on a brown, leather embossed book with golden linings. Yes, this was it! Her favorite fairy tale! It was called "Beauty and the Beast." It was an old folktale that she loved, full of magic and especially excitement. The battles, the forbidden love-it was exhilarating to read! Although, she thought to herself, it could use a little more humor, a bit more human interaction, and maybe a pack of wolves. But other than that, this was one of the most perfect books she had ever read.

"I'm borrowing this one, Mr. Azuma!" she said as she brought it up to the front. The old man looked at her through his spectacles.

"You can keep it. It's obviously your favorite."

Ikhny's eyes lit up. "Really? Oh thank you, Mr. Azuma!" She ran up and hugged him and laughed when Azuma tried to breathe. "You're the best!"

She let go and waved as she ran out the door. Azuma straightened up and smoothed down his shirt after adjusting his spectacles. "Kids," he muttered as he shook his head, walking to the back of the shop, "Dunno what I'd do without them sometimes. Keeps an old man like me living."

MEANWHILE…

BANG!

"I got it! I got it!"

thump

"Oops. Missed again. Maybe if I just picked it up and stuffed it in the bag, Enishi-sama won't notice…" Soujiro muttered as he picked up the fallen Canadian goose by its neck (A/N: do not ask. See bottom for explanation). "Poor thing…it didn't deserve to die. Oh well-I suppose we'll have goose soup tonight!" He put on a bright smile, which was a large contrast to his former somber face as he pitied the goose, slung the bag over his shoulder, and went toward his "master."

"Good job, Enishi-sama! You hit it with only one shot while it was flying over a hundred miles per hour!" shouted Soujiro as he ran across the courtyard with his arms clutched around the bag, exaggerating to boost his master's ego. Enishi was a man with pale while hair and bright blue eyes. He was buff and took every chance to flaunt it to the women around the bars he hung out at. Soujiro had come to him at a very young age, begging for food. Enishi took him in and made him his servant/son. He simply ran all the errands that Enishi needed him to run.

Enishi blew on his gun, sending away the smoke. "Ah, yes, I know." Suddenly he stopped. His eyes moved, watching a figure move down the street gracefully without bumping into anyone. His gaze trailed from her gorgeous face down to her long, lean legs poking out from under her shorts.

"Ikhny…" he mumbled under his breath.

"Enishi-sama? Is something wrong?"

Enishi clamped a muscular arm over Soujiro's shoulders. "You see that girl there, Soujiro? That's the girl I'm going to marry. I won't marry anyone but the best."

"Of course, Enishi-sama. Perhaps you would like to put this goose away?"

"Maybe later. For now, I must chase after my fairytale princess."

Enishi bounded across the road but was immediately blocked by the many cats at the intersection, the mass of people walking about gossiping and shopping, and the little kids who were running amuck playing tag or some other childish game. He growled in annoyance and with two leaps, he was on the roofs of the houses, searching for the slim figure who was making her way back to the little cottage where she lived. He bounded across the rooftops, following her until finally, he jumped off and stopped her at the bridge.

"Oh, good morning Enishi."

"Good morning, my fair lady. How are you today."

Ikhny edged uneasily away from him. She knew what he wanted and she wasn't about to give it to him. Oh yes, he was very kind and very flattering, but there was something she just didn't like about him. Perhaps his was the malicious twinkle he had in his eyes or maybe his reputation for using girls, but either way, she just didn't like him.

"F-fine. Excuse me, I need to go."

"Wait!"

She just ignored him and ran the rest of her way to the house. "Why can't there be someone out there who isn't like him?" she asked herself silently. Upon entering and shutting the door, she slapped herself on the forehead.

"I FORGOT TO SELL THE EGGS!"

Hiead grumbled in annoyance as he stalked around the castle. Once hearing of the prince's horrible curse, the king sent for all the princesses of the neighboring lands to see if he would love them. Indeed, the girls came, along with their dowry and closets of clothes. They all loved him, but never saw his beast form. He always retired to his room when the sun set. These girls were too-frilly, for the lack of a better word-for him. They were too giggly, too perfect, and too girly and way too annoying. If he was going to love someone, he would love a girl who didn't present herself as a slut and hated fakeness as much as he did.

Before the enchantress left, she left behind not only a rose and a mirror, but also three spells. These spells were all the same-they would allow him one night to be human. So basically, until his twenty-first birthday, there were three days that he and the rest of the castle could be fully human all day long. His father (who was not affected by the spell and neither was his mother) took these spells away from the prince, knowing that he would use them as soon as possible, and locked them up.

"You will only use them for the balls we will be holding to find your true love," he said as he stroked his beard, thoughtfully. "This was your own doing, son. Now you must take responsibility for it."

Hiead scowled in reply and stalked up to his room, slamming the door.

The next day, when he awoke and changed back into his human form, he went downstairs for breakfast and saw more than two dozen princesses all dressed in their finest clothes sitting at the table. He huffed, glared at his father, took a seat, and began to eat, not particularly caring about all the sighs and surprised looks he was receiving. Some of the girls began to giggle, claiming that he was "tall, dark, and handsome." He rolled his eyes as he silently thought: "Why can't there be someone out there who isn't like these stupid girls here?"

His father stood up to make a toast. "That my son will find true love among one of you ladies here." Everyone clapped politely and took a small sit of champagne. Hiead was the only one who didn't take a drink. He didn't even raise his glass. He had no intention of ever finding love among those prissy girls.

"I also have an announcement to make."

Hiead's eyes immediately darted toward his mother. His mother rarely made announcements or speeches. Whatever she had to say, it must have been important.

"We shall be holding a masquerade for my son a week and a half from now. You are all welcome to attend. The king and I both wish to see you all there." She sat sown gracefully and everyone cheered. Everyone, except our favorite prince, Hiead Gner.

Later that night, when mostly everyone had left, the king walked to Hiead's door, knowing that a dragon was behind it. "Son," he began, "one of the princesses has decided to stay until the masquerade. I strongly suggest you keep your roaring down a bit."

A grunt came from behind the door, and then a voice. "Perhaps by seeing me, she will leave and never come back."

"Son, that would not be a good thing. Don't you want to be rid of this curse?"

"Of course, but I can never love one of those princesses."

The king's face broke out into a smile. "Very well then, I shall send out a notice that all the commoners are to come too. Goodnight."

There was a pause as the king raced down the hall. A few seconds later…

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!"

FOOTNOTES:

Enishi is from Rurouni Kenshin, as is Soujiro. Now, I am aware that Soujiro works for Shishio, but Shishio isn't exactly the erm….handsomest man ever. Soo…enter Enishi! The half albino! (Not really, I just felt like saying that)

Now, about the Canadian goose. I live in front of a lake. I grow peaches and apples and plums. There is a flock of Canadian geese that come all the time to poop on the grass (causing me to slip) and they each all the fruits too! See? EVIL! They will take over the world one day, just watch.

A/N: So how was it? Good? Bad? Please review! This is the longest first chapter I've ever written! I intend to keep this story down to about ten chapters, maybe less. Personally, I like stories that are short, sweet, and not incredibly LONG. I hate the ones that drag out and I've discovered that it's a lot more fun to write these short little ficlets than the long ones. Less commitment and less flames that yell at me to update!

I have had a few requests to start a mailing list because I don't update on a regular basis. Tell me if you want to be added to it and leave your e-mail. I hate it when authors immediately add me to their mailing lists after I review, so please indicate whether you want it or not. Lol, that sounded so sophisticated.

I also want to say that this fic isn't all just "Beauty and the Beast." I intend to mix in Cinderella and maybe Sleeping Beauty in. Or Mulan, just for the fun of it. Haha! Fight between Mushu the little dragon and Hiead the big, mean, silver dragon! Wahoo! Leave a response, please!


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